I think more highly of him than I do of Sir Garnet
Wolseley, but there is this to be said of _all_ your generals, they
have only fought against Asiatic and savage foes. They have not
commanded an army against a European enemy, and we cannot tell,
therefore, what they are really made of."
The Commander-in-chief of the Army of India, General Sir Donald M.
Stewart, G.C.B., C.I.E., to whom has been intrusted the conduct of
the British forces in Afghanistan, is also a very distinguished and
experienced officer--probably more familiar with the nature of the
probable field of operations than any other in Her Majesty's
Service.
Like the United States, the great latent power of England is
indisputable, and so long as superiority at sea is maintained, time
is given to render that latent power active. For the first year of
the coming struggle England must lean heavily upon her navy. Nearly
all the regiments of infantry are below the average peace limit, and
if filled up simultaneously to a maximum war strength will include
more than fifty per cent, of imperfectly trained men, and as the
practice has been to fill up those corps ordered abroad with men
transferred from other small regiments, it may come to pass that
so-called "regular" regiments will consist largely of raw material.
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